I was supposed to go to New Orleans last weekend but my trip was canceled at the last minute, so I decided to go to Zion National Park in Southern Utah instead. I went by myself, which proved to be a rather emotional and lonely experience (more about that later) but the park itself was gorgeous. I highly recommend going there. I stayed the night in a motel and spent two days hiking and wandering through the park. Here’s a photo recap of my stay.

I woke up at 5:30 on Saturday morning with the plan to leave Las Vegas for Zion at 6:30am. I was on the road by 8:30am (Ha ha.).

Because this trip was so last minute Because I’m lazy, I hadn’t booked a hotel, so I wasted my first couple of hours there trying to find a cheap hotel room.

In honor of President’s Day weekend, the park had waived the entrance fee, which naturally meant there were tons of people in town.

By the time I had checked in and made it into the park, it was getting dark. I went hiking anyway though. It was spooky.

The next morning, I woke up early early-ish and drove up the mountain.

20 minutes and a large cup of coffee later, nature called.

I pulled over to the side of the road in search of a bush I could use as a potty. Because I was paranoid of running into hikers or park rangers, I wound up walking really far away from the highway. Afterwards, I hiked around these cool checkered mountains.

I was feelin’ pretty adventurous, so I took a selfie in an attempt to capture the moment.

I was going for “mysterious adventurer” but I think I just wound up just looking ridiculous. Oh well.

Next, I hiked a mile along The Overlook Trail.

The path takes you through a cave, across a rickety wooden “bridge” and along the edge of a cliff. I was patting myself on the back for being a daredevil until I saw some two-year-olds on the trail. Hmpf.

It was really windy at the lookout point.

Really, REALLY windy.

Also, my cell phone camera sucks. The view was stunningly beautiful. I guess you’ll just have to trust me about that. Or google it. This was the best I could do:

I was feeling great after my successful summit to the lookout, so I decided to take on a trail called “Angels Landing”.

The sign said it was only 2.5 miles. I thought: “How hard can it be?”

Turns out, the hike was pretty intense! See that winding trail? I hiked up that. This photo was taken at the half way point.

You can’t tell, but that’s a cliff.

Would you think I was cool if I told you I stood right at the edge and looked down? No? Okay, great. Cause I was too chicken.

Here’s a photo of the view from near the top.

And there you have it. I survived the hike. I did not fall off a cliff. I did not plummet into a canyon and have to cut off my arm. The scariest animal I saw all weekend was a crow. As far as adventures into the wild go, this one was pretty tame. But I’ll get another chance in a few months when I go back for a camping trip. Stay tuned for Round 2!

Tips if you’re planning on going to Zion:

* Zion is only 2 1/2 hours away from Las Vegas, so it is possible to go just for the day. But I wouldn’t do that if I were you! Lodging isn’t too expensive (my hotel room was just 50 dollars), plus there’s a lot to see. It makes more sense to go for at least two days if you have the time.

* There’s a $25.00 charge per vehicle to enter the park

* Even if you don’t like  hiking, you should still go! You can drive through the park if you’re feeling lazy and there are a lot of easy, flat trails you can try.

Reannon Muth

Reannon Muth is a full-time writer, social media consultant and owner and manager of the Taken by the Wind travel blog. Born in Hawaii, Reannon has lived in five countries, at Disney World and on a cruise ship. She currently lives in fabulous Las Vegas.